Kitchen Therapy

Tag Archives: cakes


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Visitandine

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It has been so long since I posted anything I forgot how to!

It’s crazy how easy it can be to lose your rhythm.
Before you know it, months go by.
I’ve missed being part of the French Fridays with Dorie group.
However a back injury and sciatica got in the way.
As did quitting my old job and starting a new one.
You know, all the usual life stuff 🙂

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Visitandine, was my son’s welcome back from 3 days at camp dessert!
Dorie Greenspan describes at as “a simple, very white cake with an elegant small-grained crumb, a lovely springy sponge…”

I cut my cake up, served it with berries and cream and the boys started eating before I took photos.
I decided to take actions shots and jump back into posting with what I had!

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After 3 days of roughing it in the Aussie bush my son was relieved to be home and eating “real food”.
He loved the dessert. We all did!
I am looking forward to being part of the French Fridays with Dorie group again!


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Pavlova with Berries and Salted Caramel Recipe

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Maybe it’s an Aussie thing, but I’m very fussy with my pavlovas.
Glossy, thick, white meringue topped with strawberries, kiwi fruit and drizzled with passionfruit.
It just doesn’t get better than that for me.
The sweetness of the meringue balanced with the sourness of the fruit keeps me coming back for more.
Each. And. Every. Time!

However I’ve decided I need to shake things up and try new things.
So I’m making an effort to be open to new taste combinations.
And when I saw my daughter eyeing this recipe in the latest delicious. magazine, it was time to begin.

Everyone loved this recipe by the way.
I loved the meringue.
I could (and did) drink eat the salted caramel on it’s own with a spoon.
It was heavenly.
So after dinner I gave everyone a spoon and told them to go for it!
And as you can see from the photo, not much was left.
It was a hit!
This pavlova was a visual feast and a taste sensation.

Pavlova with Berries and Salted Caramel
(adapted from Delicious Magazine, issue 132, November 2013)

6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (sifted)
1 1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour (sifted)
2 tsp white vinegar

to serve:
300ml thickened cream
2 tbsp soft icing sugar
2 cups mixed berries

salted caramel:
2 1/2 cups caster sugar
1/2 cup water
300ml thickened cream (at room temperature)
1tsp sea salt flakes

Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Place egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean, dry mixer bowl and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.
Add sugar 1 tbsp at a time until all the sugar is added and the meringue is glossy and thick.
Stir in the cornflour and vinegar, beat until combined.
Spread the mixture onto the baking paper in an oval or rectangular shape.
Reduce oven to 130 degrees C and bake for 1 hour or until the outside is firm but not browned.
Then turn oven off, open oven door slightly and let meringue sit in the oven until completely cooled.

To make the salted caramel place sugar in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water.
Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves.
Increase to medium heat and cook, without stirring, until mixture turns golden caramel (about 10 mins).
Remove from heat and pour in cream.
Finally, return the pan to a low heat and add the salt.
Stir the mixture for 1-2 minutes or until smooth.
Pour salted caramel into a container and leave on bench top to cool.
(This recipe makes a lot more caramel than you need!
Leftover caramel can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, if it lasts that long!).

To serve, whisk the thickened cream with soft icing sugar until soft peaks form.
Spread over the meringue.
Scatter your choice of berries on top.
Drizzle with salted caramel.

Enjoy 🙂


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Savarin

savarin

The Savarin, a yeasted bread cake saturated in sweet syrup, pear eau-de vie (brandy), filled with whipped cream and topped with your choice of berries.
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia recipe.
Looks simple…
And I think it would have been simple if I didn’t leave it till the very last minute.
Which also happened to be the weekend I was having 5 of my son’s friends sleep over for his birthday.
Six 13-year old boys.
They are loud, they squeal, they argue, they burp, they fart, they tell each other they stink, call each other names, wrestle each other to the ground, jump on each other, laugh at inappropriate jokes and can’t seem to keep their arms and legs to themselves. And did I mention they are loud?
I made the cake before heading out to dinner and a few games of laser skirmish.
I took many, many photos.
My husband took many, many photos.
13 year old boys move.
A LOT.
Nearly all the photos turned our blurry.
Someone, if not everyone, was moving at any given time. Below are the best out of the lot, and as you can see they aren’t that great!
My 6 year old son was happy to get his dad all to himself and play a game of pool while the big boys laser battled (and came out arguing over who was the best shot and argued again as the scores came up on the screen).
Teased, poked and paid out on each other through dinner.
Argued over who was the best at PS3. Who was going to sleep where. And what movie to watch.
(And that last pic is of me hugging my son as he’s trying to squirm away).

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The next morning they woke us all up at the crack of dawn with more laughter and arguments.
The early start however meant I could make the syrup and soak the cake before starting on pancakes for breakfast.

When they all went home, bleary eyed and tired (me and them), I filled the the middle of the cake with whipped cream and topped it off with fresh berries. The recipe calls for the berries to be mixed in raspberry puree however I prefer my berries fresh.
I sat down to a quiet and freshly cleaned house, drizzled the cake with pear eau-de-vie…

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And savoured each and every bite!
(My husband wants me to mention he did most of the cleaning while I finished making the cake 🙂 !).

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I love baba cakes, so I thought this was wonderful.
I preferred it with the pear eau-de-vie.
I’m not a fan of alcohol in cakes so I was surprised when I splashed more and more brandy on top of my cake. I thought it was the taste of pears that kept me going back for more, my husband thought it was just me trying to blot out the past 24 hours! (Truth is I loved every minute of the craziness!)

The recipe of the cake can be found here.

I am looking forward to see what the rest of the Tuesday with Dorie group thought of this cake!


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Ispahan Loaf Cake

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I was excited and looking forward to making this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe.
Ispahan cake.
I love turkish delight.

I love raspberries.
And… I love lychees (I have eaten kilos of them this summer).
Yes, I know there are no lychees in this cake however the three ingredients were now linked in my mind and this cake was going to be awesome!

And it was!

 

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The cake is made mostly of almond flour so the texture is moist and delicate.
The recipe calls for rose syrup and rose extract. My chances of finding either were slim, so I used a good quality rose water and the flavour came through beautifully.
To be honest, I liked the taste and texture of the cake so much, I wouldn’t have minded the loaf plain, without the raspberries.
It was that good!

I am looking forward to catching up with the rest of the French Fridays with Dorie group and see what they thought of this week’s recipe.

 


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Gingerbread Cake

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It’s Christmas time!
And Gingerbread Baby Cakes are this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie: Baking with Julia recipe.

I didn’t have baby sized cake pans.
Luckily though, the recipe says you can also use it to make a 10 inch sized gingerbread cake.
Umm… I don’t have one of those either…
But I do have two x 6 inch cake pans and they worked perfectly!
So I guess I made… Gingerbread Adolescent Cakes???

The first cake I kept simple, just a dusting of sugar and served with sweetened whipped cream.
The second cake, I drizzled some lemon icing over…

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I think the twist of lemon added a whole new dimension of flavour to this cake.
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Now, total disclosure…
I’m not a ginger lover, never have been.
However I’ve linked the smell of ginger in baked goods to Christmas.
So baking this cake, kick started the Christmas season for me!
Gingerbread seems to go hand in hand with cold weather and snowmen.
However I live in Australia, so this gingerbread cake was made in sweltering heat with lizards hanging out my bathroom window and the creek alongside our house in full tropical bloom!
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So…
Not being a ginger lover, I think I liked what this cake represented more than the cake itself!
However, if you are a ginger lover, try this recipe for yourself!
Karen, from Karen’s Kitchen Stories is this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie host and has the full recipe on her site.


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Neapolitan Cake & My 100th Post!

It’s my 100th post!

Yay!

I’ve always wanted to be consistent and persistent.
I hear they are wonderful qualities.
Unfortunately they have never been qualities used to describe me!
Until now.
And it’s all thanks to this blog.

I guess when you find something you enjoy, you want to keep doing it.

I’m learning to not question (too much) why I enjoy doing this?!
To not try to dissect and understand it.
To just accept that it makes me happy.
And enjoy it.

I made this cake for my son’s 5th birthday.
The recipe is from Heather Baird’s SprinkleBakes book.
The kids loved it!

It’s such a great party cake!

It occurred to me it was also the perfect cake to celebrate my 100th post!
And my venture into the crazy new world of consistency and persistence!


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Buttermilk Crumb Muffins

This muffin was simple, sweet and easy.
The way life is meant to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I love fancy cakes.
With layers, fillings and frostings.
They’re stunning to look at and exciting to cut into.

But after dealing with the everyday dramas of life, every now and then you can’t beat simple.

It’s predictable.
Comforting.
Satisfying.

The perfect snack to come home to after school.
To fill up on after jumping on the trampoline with friends.
To pick at while catching up with friends over a cup of tea.
And to grab before heading out to the evening’s futsal match.

So when you are ready for some sweet simplicity in you life, head over to Alisa’s blog, Easier Than Pie to get the recipe.


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Apple Upside Down Chiffon Cake

I really enjoyed making this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie: Baking with Julia recipe.

Life is usually chaotic.
Running from place to place.
Rushing through as many things as possible.
Thinking about what needs to be done next.

My 15 year old daughter came home from a week at the snow…
So a week’s worth of washing is what needs to be done next!
(And fixing a washing machine that broke the night she arrived home!)

Grand finals week…
So extra training sessions, gifts for coaches and managers, end of season get togethers were next!

My friend’s 50th birthday…
What to wear? Buy something new or grab something from the closet? What present to give? Working out what time I will realistically be able to get to party as the kids need to be fed and showered and ready for bed to make life easy for their grandparents who will be at home with them before I even think abut getting myself ready is next!

It’s all little things.
There’s just a never ending stream of ‘little things’!
And planning for ‘what’s next’ takes up a lot of ‘what’s actually happening now’ time!

I decided I didn’t want to rush through another recipe (or life!)
So every time I had a few moments to myself, instead of planning for what’s next, I decided to get familiar with this week’s recipe.
I read the entire recipe, from beginning to end. I read all the incredibly useful comments under the P&Q section. I took on board all the advice and experiences that other group members generously took the time to share. I found this invaluable.
I got my baking tins out and since I didn’t have a 10-inch pan I decided to use my 8-inch tube pan and used the excess mixture to make another 6-inch Apple Upside-Down Chiffon Cake (I even googled the volume of different pans to help me make this decision!)
I also googled upside down chiffon cakes to decide on a topping. The original recipe uses nectarines which are not in season here in Sydney, so I decided on Granny Smith apples.

This cake turned out amazing.
We had a BBQ for Father’s Day and this cake was the perfect ending to an amazing spring day.
(I gave the 6 inch version to my mum to take home in the pan so I have no photo!)

This cake wasn’t a chore.
It wasn’t another recipe to rush through.
It was a delightful break from the constant chatter of my monkey brain.
It reminded me why I started this blog and joined these wonderful groups.

Marlise of The Double Trouble Kitchen and Susan of The Little French Bakery are this week’s hosts and have the full recipe on their websites if you are interested in having a look…

 


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The Pioneer Woman’s Knock You Naked Brownies

Every three or so months my husband and I book flights to Melbourne and run away for the weekend.


The first time we went was about 2 years ago.
I spent the first trip tormenting myself for leaving the kids with their grandparents.
The two nights however went by quickly and we were home before I knew it.
I rushed home to find three very happy kids who had clearly spent a great weekend being over indulged by their doting grandparents.
Hmmm….
Clearly I needed to get a more realistic perspective on my kids’ resilience.
So when my husband and I booked our next trip to Melbourne, I was in a much better place and ready to actually  give relaxing a go!
This time I did start to relax… on the day we were scheduled to fly back home to Sydney.
It’s many trips down the track now and I can honestly say these day I switch into ‘Melbourne’ mode the minute we start our drive to the airport. By the time we land in Melbourne, I can feel the tension leaving my body and as we sit down to lunch at our favourite restaurant, Movida, I’m feeling giddy with joy!

We are like two teenagers as we choose dishes we want to eat!
We don’t have to try and find things that the kids might like, we can actually choose dishes with chillies and strange sounding names and ingredients! We giggle with excitement!

We then walk over to my favourite cake shop for dessert…

Before heading out to the sea-side town of St Kilda to check into our hotel. I open the curtains, we take in the views and do absolutely nothing! Nothing! We talk, read and relax until dinner.
Then we get dressed and walk down to St Kilda’s main street for dinner.
And we get to walk past Luna Park without arguments and tears about why we can’t go inside!

So. What does all this have to do with brownies?

The thing about living in Australia is that there are many recipes I see online or in books that have ingredients I can’t find here. I’ve found some after a lot of searching in specialty shops and I’ve managed to substitute others with what we have available here. However, in the back of my mind is a list of ingredients I’m always on the lookout for.

Melbourne is known for it’s shopping and it’s amazing restaurants. So I’ve always thought if I’m going to find these ingredients anywhere, it will be here in Melbourne.

And I was right!!!

A few months ago, I was looking for a brownie recipe to use up my stock of chocolate I had built up over time.
I came across The Pioneer Woman’s Knock You Naked Brownies.
Now these weren’t going to solve my chocolate stock problems as they were made with a German Chocolate Cake Mix, but they looked so good I couldn’t get them out of my mind. I went straight to our local Woolworths supermarket, and of course, there was no German Chocolate Cake Mix. I was tempted to substitute with a plain chocolate cake mix but I remembered Ree Drummond emphasising the importance of using the German Chocolate Mix.
Aghhhh!
So another ingredient went on my list of things to keep a lookout for.

Until last weekend that is!
I have now crossed German Cake Mix off my list! Yay!
I found it in Melbourne and couldn’t wait to come home and make Ree’s brownies!
I had my son and four of his friends running in and out of the house with skateboards and soccer balls.
Then my daughter  sent me an SMS on her way home from school asking if 5 of her friends could come over and hang out at our house since it was Friday.
Sure! Yeah! Whatever!!
I was making Knock You Naked Brownies!

I really wanted the kids to enjoy these so I left the nuts out of the recipe.
And I have to say these really are a knock out.

My husband ate them hot out of the oven. He ate them cold out of the fridge before I had the chance to dust them with icing sugar and cut them. And as we ran the kids to soccer, netball, umpiring duties, parties and get togethers he sent me texts to tell me he just ducked home and ate more brownies and that I was never, EVER allowed to make these again because he can’t stop eating them!

I cut them into bite size pieces and I left them on the kitchen bench. I have to say I like them best at room temperature. The plate is almost empty now. Less than 24 hours since I made them.

I think that says it all!

If you want to check out The Pioneer Woman’s photos (which are way better than mine!) and the recipe, just click here!


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Cherry Mascarpone Roulade

It has been far too long since my last French Fridays with Dorie post.

We moved house.
I slipped a disc in my back (because of the move).
Spent way too long on a crazy cocktail of drugs to just get through each day!
And just when things were coming together…
Bam! School holidays!
There’s always something… right?

When I saw this week’s recipe I knew it was time to return to the group.
And I knew that I would replace the blueberries in Dorie’s recipe with a jar of Morello Cherries.
I contemplated strawberries.
However my daughter and I crave Black Forest Cake, loaded with juicy, plump, sour cherries… pretty much… all  the time!

School holidays are pretty crazy times around here.
I turned my back for a minute at the cinema and a movie poster became a prop!

So amidst all the chaos it was pure bliss carve out a little time to bake.
It felt indulgent.
Soothing.
Pretty!

Dorie’s Roulade recipe was simple and delicious.
We loved the cherry filling.
And I think strawberries would have been amazing.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the French Fridays with Dorie group thought!
(We are off to Melbourne for the weekend so I posted a day early!)